Why it’s Amazing

Two words: Park Rangers. They have set up a system that is very successful at protecting the wildlife and the ecology of Denali.

Although there is a road that goes 90 miles into the park, you’re generally not allowed to drive on it. Within the first 15 miles, private vehicles are allowed, but after Savage River, only authorized buses, and special cases.

There is one campground beyond Savage River to which they will let you drive if you are lucky enough to get a reservation. It’s usually booked a full six months in advance. The other exception is if you win a lottery for a one-day pass. The downside is the road has hair-pin turns, without guardrails and is mostly unpaved. You can’t see much if you’re focused on the driving.

Backpackers and campers are allowed to wander in the wilderness, and camp anywhere so long as their camp cannot be seen from the road.

Hiking Trails

Past the 15-mile no-drive barrier, hiking trails are discouraged. Backpacking hikers are encouraged not to create trails nor use a trail. Groups of hikers are asked not to walk in the same path (footsteps) so there will be less human impact on the ecosystem.

We wore our bear spray, as did most other hikers. Bear bells that jangled were commonly used by everyone also. Nearly all bears will avoid human contact though, when they hear voices, so the best way to protect yourself from an inadvertent bear encounter is to bring along a non-stop chatting companion.

Before Savage River (15 mile mark), there are a multitude of shorter trails around the main ranger station. There are also two trails at Savage River – the river walk which is mercifully flat, and the Savage River Arctic Trail. We tried the Arctic Trail starting at the Mountain Vista Trail hiking toward the Savage River.

We may have made a mistake going in that direction. It’s a gentle rise in that direction but a hell of a descent. A nice mature ranger told us after the hike that she really preferred the hike in the other direction because it was easier on her knees. Where was she when we started, huh?

Park Buses

The Park Service has many fine old school buses painted Ranger-olive, that run a shuttle service over the length of the park road. The cool part is that they will let you off anywhere along the road if you want to do a wild-life hike where there are no trails.

Buses on the return trip will pick up hikers and backpackers on the road that flag them down for a ride. If you want to take a ride into the park from the main Ranger Station, you’ll have to reserve a seat on the bus because they fill up.

There are two ways to get a wildlife “tour”. One is to book a tour company that has permits from the Park Service. The other is to get a seat on a Park Service bus going deep into the park (for about one-third the price).

The bus drivers stop for animals within sight of the road. All passengers are encouraged to shout out if they see wildlife or even think they see something. Then everyone can pile onto one side of the bus to get the photo. As a result of these rules that protect the ecosystem, the animals are really not afraid of vehicles nor people. This makes for incredible wildlife viewing.

We were lucky to book seats for the ride to Eielson Station for the next morning. They often fill up days ahead. It’s about a four hour ride to the Ranger Station 60 miles in. If you are not going to camp overnight, you have to turn around and ride the bus back. It’s another four hours back so an early start is a must.

RV Camping

The Denali Campgrounds fill up way in advance of the summer. Since we travel without an agenda, we, of course, could not reserve ahead. No problem. We drove up the road to the 49th State Brewing Company, enjoyed a craft brew and some delicious bar food, and then slept in their parking lot.

Mountain Climbing

It’s a shame we didn’t arrive in Alaska in time to scale Denali’s peaks, which must be done in spring. All climbers begin at the Talkeetna Ranger Station. So having missed the registration for the climb, we opted to visit the Talkeetna Ranger Station instead. Talkeetna, an hour south of Denali Park entrance, is a cute little town with a brewpub. We bought a bottle of birch syrup at the farm there, a common delicacy in the area, which incidentally goes really well with bourbon or whiskey. (Try using a little birch syrup in your Manhattan instead of the grenadine!) Perhaps you can see where our priorities lie … we felt amply compensated for not planting our flag on Denali’s peak, the most difficult in the world because of the mountain’s weather system and lack of porters.

We really enjoyed visiting the Ranger Station where they have flags from teams worldwide that have successfully scaled Denali. Since we were there well after climbing season, the rangers weren’t too busy and we had a fantastic conversation with one of them. We learned about the history of scaling Denali and the kind of equipment the climbers needed.

During climbing season the National Park Service Rangers keep a fully manned Ranger Station at the base camp of Denali. They work both to protect the mountain from becoming trashed like Everest, and to rescue climbers who get into trouble. Until we visited Denali, we’d never heard of Leave-No-Trace mountain climbing. It was just one more thing that makes Denali amazing.

View the photo gallery – click on image below:

Savage River Arctic Trail Hike and Vertical Profile. The other direction is easier on the knees.

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From Valdez, Alaska, we put our 23-foot Sprinter on the Alaska Ferry, and sailed across the Prince William Sound, saving us hours of driving.

View from the campground in Whittier Alaska.

Whittier, a port of call for some Alaska-bound cruises is accessible only by water and through a single lane tunnel that is shared with the railroad. Seriously, after the train passes, the cars in one direction are sent through, and then the cars in the other direction. It demands a little patience.

The city has some campground spots right on the Sound which offer a beautiful vista. We spent a couple delightful nights there, sunset was still almost 11:00pm.

The mandatory hike in this area is to the top of the Portage Pass that was once used by the Chugach Nation as a trade route. It’s not a terribly long hike to the top, but the 800-foot climb is rather steep. Fortunately, about half way someone had carved into a rock “Keep on going – you got this!”

The Portage Glacier.

The backward view of Whittier and the Prince William Sound is dynamic. We could also see the train waiting for it’s turn to enter the one lane tunnel. At the top of the pass, we were treated to vistas of the Portage Glacier, it’s lake and two other glaciers.

The next day we waited our turn to drive through the Whittier-Portage tunnel. On the other side, we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and learned how they successfully re-introduced the nearly-extinct wood bison to Alaska plains.

Ghost Forest on the Turnagain Bay.

One very curious Alaska sight is a ghost forest. The Good Friday Earthquake of 1964, the largest that ever occurred in the United States, changed the elevation of the bays and caused a tsunami. The salt water intrusion killed the trees along the shore. It also preserved them by pickling them with salt. As a consequence, the dead trees don’t rot, and this ghost forest has looked the same for more than 50 years.

Click below for photo gallery!

View from the campground in Whittier Alaska.

The Portage Pass looks down on Whittier and the Prince William Sound.

A rock on the trail about half-way up the mountain: "Keep on going - you got this!"

After climbing 800 feet, we are treated to views of multiple glaciers.

The Divide Lake and the Portage Glacier melting into it's own lake.

The Portage Glacier.

I see two glaciers!

Lakes and mountains of Alaska.

Running from the Wood Bison. (Okay, they really are wood, but don't they look real?)

Ravens of the Ghost Forest.

Ghost Forest on the Turnagain Bay.

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The Kennecott Mine was once the richest copper mine in the world. It was depleted of profitable ore and finally abandoned in 1938. The Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, created in 1980, includes the remains of the mining operation, and a 14-storey mill building. The national park has hiking trails to one of the old mines on top of the mountain, and to Root Glacier. (Click any thumbnail for larger, lightbox view.)

View from the top of the processing plant.

The remains of the Kennecott Copper Mine, one of the richest in the world, and now a National Park and Historic Landmark.

Better than reclaimed art is a reclaimed working truck.

Abandoned Kennecott Mining Operation

The entire city of Kennecott was built solely to support the mining operation.